Rain calms wildfire that jumped freeway, burned carsLOS ANGELES — A fast-moving wildfire that swept across a packed California interstate, sending people running for their lives, was burning more calmly Saturday as rain fell and temperatures dropped. The fire had burned over Interstate 15 on Friday in Cajon Pass, a mountainous area 55 miles northeast of Los Angeles. It destroyed 20 vehicles on the freeway linking Southern California and Las Vegas before burning three homes and 44 more vehicles ...

Slain Marine served honorablyLITTLE ROCK — U.S. Senator John Boozman is remembering the service of a Marine with Arkansas ties killed this week in attacks on two military facilities in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Boozman said in a statement Saturday that Staff Sgt. David Wyatt served his country honorably and gave his life in defense of American freedom. The Republican lawmaker also says the country can’t forget that threats to America exist even away from combat zones. Wyatt...

Body of flood victim found in KentuckyOn the same day Kevin Johnson buried his mother, searchers found the body of his 34-year-old son who drowned while trying to save his grandmother from flash flooding that ravaged their tiny Appalachian community. Scott Johnson’s body was found near the cemetery where his grandmother was buried. Days of searching along a muddy, debris-strewn creek ended when Johnson’s body was located Friday evening in a pile of rubble pinned beneath a mobile h...

4 Marines and gunman die in attack on 2 military sites CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — A gunman unleashed a barrage of fire at a recruiting center and another U.S. military site a few miles apart in Chattanooga on Thursday, killing at least four Marines before he was shot to death by police, and sending service members scrambling for cover as bullets smashed through the windows. Federal authorities said they were investigating the possibility it was an act of terrorism, but have no evidence yet that any...

Mayor: Police pursuing active shooter in Chattanooga, Tenn. CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — The Chattanooga mayor says police are pursuing an active shooter after reports of a shooting at a military reserve center. Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said at a news conference Thursday it was a horrific situation. He did not release any other details. The U.S. Navy said in a tweet that it was investigating a report of a shooting at a Navy recruiting building. Chattanooga State Community College said in a tweet and o...

Floods cause millions of dollars in damagesAssociated Press TEXARKANA — Recent floods caused more than $14 million in damages in a southwest Arkansas county, according to a report by county officials and the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. Around half of the land in Little River County was flooded by nearby bodies of water, including the Red River, following severe weather in May and June, said the county’s emergency coordinator, Don Hale Jr. The report shows that...

Firm seeks more info, stalls funds for stateAssociated Press LITTLE ROCK — A telecommunications company wants more information before it submits paperwork that officials say has put a hold on more than $15 million in federal funding for Arkansas schools. CenturyLink officials question whether the state’s procurement process for school broadband upgrades complied with federal rules. Jeff Jones, CenturyLink’s market development manager, said it seeks additional information from the Federa...

Teen in good spirits after surviving plane crashAssociated Press SEATTLE — With her step-grandparents dead or dying in the burning wreckage of their small plane, 16-year-old Autumn Veatch needed to somehow find her way off the remote, thickly forested Washington state mountainside where they crashed Saturday afternoon. Bruised by the impact, singed by the fire, fearing an explosion and knowing she couldn’t help the other victims, the girl did what she could: She headed down the steep slope,...

Pluto flyby apparently successfulAssociated Press CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — In a day of both jubilation and tension, scientists anxiously waited Tuesday for NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft to send word across 3 billion miles and confirm it got humanity’s first up-close look at Pluto. All indications were that the craft successfully made its flyby, and a cheering, flag-waving celebration swept over the mission operations center in Maryland. But confirmation was not expected to rea...

1,800 immigrants re-arrested after releaseLOS ANGELES — More than 1,800 immigrants that the federal government wanted to deport were nevertheless released from local jails and later re-arrested for various crimes, according to a government report released Monday. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement report — obtained by an organization that actively opposes illegal immigration — said the re-arrested immigrants were among 8,145 people who were freed between January and August 2014 d...

Jurors consider Holmes’ sanityAssociated Press DENVER — They saw more than 1,500 photographs. They heard more than 250 witnesses. They listened to 10 psychiatrists. They handled three guns. Jurors in the Colorado theater shooting case will hear closing arguments and instructions from the judge this week. Then they’ll retreat into an oversized jury room — the only one in the courthouse that can hold all the evidence — to decide what of all this matters as they determine whe...

Pluto bigger than scientists thoughtCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Little Pluto is a little bigger than anyone imagined. On the eve of NASA’s historic flyby of Pluto, scientists announced Monday the New Horizons spacecraft has nailed the size of the faraway icy world. Measurements by the spacecraft set to sweep past Pluto today indicate the radius of the dwarf planet spans 736 miles, plus or minus six miles. That’s 20 miles to 30 miles bigger than previous estimates. The diameter would ...

Threats force Satan statue unveiling to secret venueDETROIT — An 8½-foot-tall bronze monument featuring a goat-headed Satan will be unveiled at a secret, ticketed event in Detroit after the owner of a popular restaurant and entertainment complex backed out and opponents issued threats, organizers said. The 1½-ton Baphomet, which is backed by an inverted pentagram and flanked by statues of two young children gazing up at the creature, shows Satan with horns, hooves, wings and a beard. The Satani...

Obama urges greater care for aging AmericansAssociated Press WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama warned Monday of an increasing urgency for the U.S. to care for older Americans as millions of baby boomers head into their golden years. At a White House conference on aging, Obama called on the nation to take proactive steps to address rising costs, protect Social Security, train more home health care workers and help seniors remain active contributors to their communities. He said every d...

Same-sex couples sue state over birth certificatesAssociated Press LITTLE ROCK — Three same-sex couples sued Arkansas health officials Monday for refusing to name both spouses on their children’s birth certificates, arguing the state is violating their constitutional rights after gay marriage was legalized nationwide. The married women said in the lawsuit filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court that the state Health Department would list only the biological mother on the birth certificate, and ...

Starbucks raising prices againAssociated Press NEW YORK — Starbucks is raising prices again starting Tuesday, with the increases ranging from 5 to 20 cents for most affected drinks, the company said. The Seattle-based company raised prices nationally about a year ago. A small and large brewed coffee will each go up by 10 cents in most areas of the country, Starbucks says. That would bring the price of a large coffee to $2.45 in most U.S. stores. Some other coffee sellers a...

Why ‘Minion’ curse words might just all be in your headNEW YORK — McDonald’s swears up and down that the little yellow “Minions” Happy Meal toy is speaking only nonsense words and not something a little more adult. Experts say the company may be right, and the curse words many hear may be tied to how our brains are primed to find words even when they’re not really there. The world’s largest hamburger chain and purveyor of Happy Meals said Friday that it doesn’t plan to take the talking Happy Meal ...

Activists calling for removal of Cosby’s Walk of Fame starBy LINDA S. ZHANG Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Black civil rights leaders on Thursday called on the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to remove Bill Cosby’s star from the Hollywood Walk of Fame, saying it could become a “walk of shame” if his name remains on the storied sidewalk. Many of the activists largely remained neutral in the controversy until Monday’s revelation of court documents obtained by The Associated Press from a 2005 deposition, ...

US: More than 21 million affected by government data breachWASHINGTON (AP) — Hackers stole Social Security numbers, health histories and other highly sensitive data from more than 21 million people, the Obama administration said Thursday, acknowledging that the breach of U.S. government computer systems was far more severe than previously disclosed. The scope of the data breach — believed to be the biggest in U.S. history — has grown dramatically since the government first disclosed earlier this year ...